Amway is an American multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells health, beauty, and home care products. The company was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos and is based in Ada, Michigan. Amway and its sister companies under Alticor reported sales of $8.9 billion in 2019. It is the largest multi-level marketing company in the world by revenue. It conducts business through a number of affiliated companies in more than a hundred countries and territories.
A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly impossible, and most members are unable to profit; as such, pyramid schemes are unsustainable and often illegal.
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd., also called Herbalife International, Inc. or simply Herbalife, is a global multi-level marketing (MLM) corporation that develops and sells dietary supplements. The company was founded by Mark R. Hughes in 1980, and it employs an estimated 9,900 people worldwide. The business is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, with its corporate headquarters located in Los Angeles, California. The company operates in 95 countries through a network of approximately 4.5 million independent distributors and members. In October 2022, previous CEO Michael O. Johnson was appointed as Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer following the departure of John Agwunobi.
Vector Marketing is a direct selling subsidiary company and the domestic sales arm of Cutco Corporation, an Olean, New York-based cutlery manufacturer. The company was founded in 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Holiday Magic was a multi-level marketing organization, founded in 1964, by William Penn Patrick (1930–1973) in the United States. Originally the organization distributed goods such as home-care products and cosmetics. Company distributors were encouraged to recruit other distributors in a multilevel marketing structure, which was later characterized as a pyramid scheme.
Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. is an American multilevel marketing company that develops and sells personal care products and dietary supplements. Under the Nu Skin and Pharmanex brands, the company sells its products in 54 markets through a network of approximately 1.2 million independent distributors.
In re Amway Corp. is a 1979 ruling by the United States Federal Trade Commission concerning the business practices of Amway, a multi-level marketing (MLM) company. The FTC ruled that Amway was not an illegal pyramid scheme according strictly to the statutory definition of a pyramid scheme, but ordered Amway to cease price fixing and cease misrepresenting to its distributors (participants) the average participant's likelihood of financial security and material success.
BurnLounge, Inc. was a multi-level marketing online music store founded in 2004 and based in New York City. By 2006, the company reported 30,000 members using the site to sell music through its network. In 2007, the company was sued by the Federal Trade Commission for being an illegal pyramid scheme. The company lost the suit in 2012, and lost appeal in June 2014. In June 2015, the FTC began returning $1.9 million to people who had lost money in the scheme. The company is dormant pending additional appeals.
The Direct Selling Association (DSA) is a trade association in the United States that represents direct selling companies, primarily those that use multi-level marketing compensation plans. On behalf of its members' companies, the DSA engages in public relations and lobbying efforts against regulation of the multi-level marketing industry, and it funds political candidates through a political action committee.
Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products or services, while the earnings of the participants are derived from a pyramid-shaped or binary compensation commission system.
ACN, Inc. is a North American multi-level marketing (MLM) company. It provides telecommunications, energy, merchant services and other services, depending on the country, through a network of independent sellers who also can recruit other sellers. Based in Concord, North Carolina, United States, ACN began operations in the United States in 1993. As of 2019, the company reported that it operates in twenty-seven countries.
AdvoCare International, LLC is an American dietary supplement company. They are a direct sales company and a former multi-level marketing company that was charged with operating a pyramid scheme. The company, headquartered in Richardson, TX, was founded in 1993 by Charles Ragus.
Market America is a multi-level marketing company founded in 1992 by JR and Loren Ridinger. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the company employed around 800 people as of 2016. The products offered by the company include household cleaning supplies, jewelry, personal care products, auto care, cosmetics, dietary supplements, custom websites, water purifiers, and weight management products. A 2017 lawsuit accused the company of being an illegal pyramid scheme.
Qnet Ltd, formerly known as QuestNet and GoldQuest, is a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing (MLM) company owned by the QI Group. QNet was founded in 1998 by Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark. The company's products include energy, weight management, nutrition, personal care, home care and fashion accessories on an e-commerce platform.
Vemma Nutrition Company was a privately held multi-level marketing company that sold dietary supplements. The company was shut down in 2015 by the FTC for engaging in deceptive practices and pyramid scheming.
Federal Trade Commission v. Vemma Nutrition Company, No. 2:15-cv-01578, was a case heard in United States District Court for the District of Arizona. On August 17, 2015 the Federal Trade Commission for the United States filed a complaint for the preliminary injunction and for other equitable relief of Vemma Nutrition Company.. The FTC, under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act filed for the permanent injunction of Vemma and alleged Vemma in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C § 45 (a) in connection with the advertising, marketing, promotion, and sale of opportunities to sell health and wellness drinks. The FTC alleged Vemma Nutrition Company of running an illegal pyramid scheme dependent on targeting young adults and recruitment tactics that emphasize the importance of becoming an "affiliate" and purchasing "affiliate packs" and monthly auto-delivery supply packs. Vemma further emphasizes the importance of affiliates to recruit others and "teach them to duplicate this process," offering "bonuses" as incentive for doing so. Vemma CEO Benson K. Boreyko claimed in his recruitment presentations that there is a potential for affiliates to "earn up to $50,000 a month working part time." The FTC found that affiliates are unlikely to earn substantial income and suffer, therefore being misled to participate in a deceptive act in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C § 45 (a).
Rodan & Fields, LLC, known as Rodan + Fields or R+F, is an American multi-level marketing company specializing in skincare products. Katie Rodan and Kathy A. Fields, creators of Proactiv, started the Rodan + Fields brand in 2002 and sold it a year later. They relaunched the brand in 2007 as a multi-level marketing firm.
Glenn Wesley Turner (1934–2020), was a salesman best known for his Orlando, Florida based multi-level marketing cosmetic company Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. Turner and Koscot became entangled in numerous legal difficulties and Koscot went out of business in the 1970s. In 1987 Turner was convicted on charges of conspiracy, fraud and operating a pyramid scheme, and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Arbonne International, LLC, known as Arbonne, is an international multi-level marketing company founded in 1980 in the United States by Norwegian entrepreneur Petter Mørck. Its product lines include vegan skincare, cosmetics, and nutrition. Arbonne's CEO is Tyler Whitehead, who succeeded Jean-David Schwartz in April 2021. Arbonne is headquartered in Irvine, California, US, with US offices in Chatsworth, California, Greenwood, Indiana, Addison, Texas, and international offices in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
